Improvement in fruit-gatherers



G., G. B. GREENWOOD. Fruit-Gatherer.

No. 213,105 Patented Mar.11,1879.

NJETERs, FHOTO-L1THOGRAPHEK WASHINGTON. D, C.

U NITED STATES PATENT GEORGE GfB. GREENWOO D, OF MINERVA, OHIO.

. IMPROVEMENT IN F'RUlI-GATHERER$..

. w/ I Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 213,105, dated March 11, 1879; application filed November 20, 187 7.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE G. B. GREEN- WOOD, of Minerva, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fruit-Gatherers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

' clear, and exact description of the invention,

My invention relates to that class of devices known as fruit-gatherers, by means of which fruit may be picked from any part of the tree or vine by a person on the ground, or in a secure part of the tree itself, thus obviating risk to the person gathering the ,fruit, as well as risk of damage to the tree or its branches or the vine.

Many devices have been invented for this purpose 5 but, in the main, Ihave found them cumbersome and complex in manufacture and generally expensive, and apt to injure the fruit in picking.

The object of my invention is to construct a fruit-gatherer which shall be simple, light, handy, easy of manipulation, and withal inexpensive; and to this end I construct a ring or hoop, '0, having projecting from a point in its periphery a tang, B, which is slotted longitudinally near the rim I prefer to have the ring and tang of metal, and in a single piece.

I also construct another ring, 0, correspon ding in diameter to the ring 0, and having projecting from its periphery a curved and elbowed arm, I). The arm I) is then passed through the slot in the tang B, and secured at the elbow by means of a pin passing at right angles through bulges or projections from the front of the tang, thus forming a bell-crank lever.

The hoop or ring 0 has attached to it a shallow flexible pouch or bag,F,made of duck or other like fabric, and the ring or hoop C is provided with the same material, not, however, forming a bag.

The hoop or ring G and its covering F will form a cover to the pouch I The tang B is inserted into and fits in a (suitable well or depression in the handle A, which latter has a metallic band, and is provided with a longitudinal groove, a, running from near the top to near its lower end. This groove to is intended to receive a wire or metallic rod, E, of suitable length, having a bend near the upper end, and hooked into an eye or hole in the end of the bell'crank lever D. The rod or wire is prevented from falling out of the groove while being moved upward and downward by a series of staples embracing the rod, or by pins passing over it and holding it in the groove. The lower end of the rod or wire is bent into a ring or handle.

A difficulty which has heretofore been experienced in fruit-gatherers has been that the constant play of the wire, its endthrust being directly against the jaws, while its draft was,

somewhat lateral upon the same, had a tendency to loosen the upper portion of the device.

Now, in my device, as the slot or groove terminates at the top, at the situation of the collar, and as the wire is bent somewhat abruptly outward, a part of the lower portion of the collar acts as a stop to the upward thrust of the wire, the point at which the wire is bent forming a shoulder, which strikes against the collar. The object of this arrangement is to prevent a sudden upward thrust from pushing the tang out of its socket.

It is obvious that the groove may terminate in the wood without there being a collar, in which case the end of the groove will form the necessary stop.

' The handle A and rod E may be of any required length, the tang B and wire E being removable, as herein described.

It will be observed that the tangB is removable from the well or depression in the end of the handle A, in which it is held, and that the closing of the jaws of the gatherer, which act also as nippers, being by a pull or draft toward the person, the tendency of the operation or use of the device is to secure thetang in position rather than to loosen it. A direct draft is insured upon the tang, drawing it into its fastening, by the peculiar shape of the crank D, being curved and elbowed, and fastened to ring 0 at the end of its short arm and pivoted at its elbow, and by-the location of the pivot in projections from the tang.

The wire E may be bent into the shape of a hook or other device at its end, so as to render it more readily attachable to and detachable from the bell-crank lever D, it being observed that the principal object is to draw down the rod, and so close the jaw, by the action of the bell-crank lever. The check to the wire above described will also prevent its being detached from the lever upon the opening of the jaws.

Now, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a fruit-picker, the combination of the handle A, provided with the groove (1, stopping short of the end of the handle, the wire or rod E, capable of sliding in the groove, and bent outward at a suitable point, forming a shoulder at the bend, acting against the end of the groove as a stop, and the bent arm and tang, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The improved fruit picker herein described, consisting of the hoops O and 0, provided with flexible coverings, the bent lever D, pivoted in the slot of arernovable tang, B, inserted in the end of the handle A, which is provided with a suitable well or depression, and the wire or rod E, sliding in a groove on the handle A, and bent outward near its upper end, forming a shoulder, and attached to the bent arm D, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses. v

GEORGE G. B. GREENWOOD.

\Vitnesses:

GEO. KRYDER, J OHN BREIDENSTEI-N. 

